Application fields of various kinds of power converting apparatuses have been studied in accordance with practical application of, for example, variable-voltage variable-frequency inverters.
For example, with regard to power converting apparatuses, the applied technology of buck-boost converters has been actively developed in recent years. Furthermore, for example, wide band-gap semiconductors composed of, for example, silicon carbide have also been actively developed. With regard to such new elements, elements that have high voltage resistant characteristics but have a small current-carrying capacity (i.e., a low permissible effective electric-current value) are put to practical use mainly as rectifiers (for example, see Patent Literature 1).